Letter from Belgium
Letter from Belgium is the fourth song on the album We Shall All Be Healed. It was first released as an EP, along with the B-sides "Nova Scotia" and "Attention All Pickpockets." Lyrics Martin calls to say he's sending old electrical equipment That's good: we can always use some more electrical equipment In the cold clear light of day down here Everyone's a monster That's cool with all of us We've been past the point of help since early April Susan and her notebook Freehand drawings of Lon Chaney Blueprints for geodesic domes Recipes for cake Yeah we're all here Chewing our tongues off Waiting for the fever to break When we walk out in the sunlight we tell everyone we know it hurts our eyes When the real reason we don't like it is that it makes us wonder if we're dying And Martin's found an old trunk full of stage makeup in the basement And he's sending it along, we can always use more makeup Yeah, more creams and powders And Carrie's got the feeling That the people next door Will close in like a wolf pack Should we make one small mistake Yeah we're all here Chewing our tongues off Waiting for the fever to break Comments by John Darnielle About this Song *"You may have a friend or two who, uh, of whom you were fond in high school.... you knew a guy, a total creative dude, right? Very nice, intelligent, smart dude, living out there on the edge, introducing you to music that you maybe might not have heard without this dude, right? And, uh, it's always a dude, by the way, um, so -- well, it is, I mean, because the women don't become junkies until a bit later, as a rule. So, you know, and then one day, after high school, you have forgotten about dude, you know -- I mean, you remember him from time to time, looking at the yearbook, 'Oh, I remember, I wonder what happened to that guy?' and then he shows up at your door because he needs ten dollars. 'Man, I didn't even hang out with you. I know you from, like, you know, wood shop class...' But anyway, he shows up to borrow money from you, and he's got this very earnest manner, that sort of seems like a very natural thing for him to do, you know. 'Hey, how you been?' And you immediately buy into that. You go, 'Oh, I'm fine, and you?' instead of 'I haven't seen you in four years and I barely know you.' 'Hey, how's it going, Jim?' Jim says, 'Ah, man, it's kind of rough, I totally need ten dollars.' And later, when you're considering what might have gone down with the ten dollars, you know, that parted ways with you when Jim left, uh, you wonder whether he plotted this whole scheme out or whether he's just a genius of improvisation. This is a song populated by a multiplicity of Jims, and it's called 'Letter from Belgium.'" -- 2010-04-11 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia *"This is a song about some friends of mine who liked methamphetamine too much." -- 2017-12-04 - Harvester Performance Center - Rocky Mount, VA Things Referenced in this Song * Lon Chaney was an American film actor who appeared in many early silent horror films. Live Shows this Song Was Played at *2003-08-23 - Breadstretchers - Springfield, IL *2004-02-01 - WXDU Session - Durham, NC *2004-02-11 - Mills College Chapel - Oakland, CA *2004-03-29 - Mains D'Oeuvres - Paris, France *2004-03-31 - ICA - London, England *2004-04-08 - XFM Session - London, England *2004-08-20 - Durham Music Festival - Durham Armory - Durham, NC *2004-10-19 - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC *2005-05-10 - La Sala Rossa - Montreal, Quebec *2009-11-05 - The Metro - Chicago, IL *2009-11-06 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI *2009-11-07 - Cedar Cultural Centre - Minneapolis, MN *2009-11-10 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA *2009-11-15 - Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, CA *2009-12-02 - Bell House - Brooklyn, NY *2010-04-09 - San Francisco Bath House - Wellington, New Zealand *2010-04-11 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia *2010-04-13 - Manning Bar - Sydney, Australia *2010-04-16 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, Australia *2010-06-05 - The Badlander - Missoula, MT *2010-09-08 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, England *2012-01-27 - Cafe Eleven - St. Augustine, FL *2013-10-12 - Handelsbeurs - Ghent, Belgium *2016-09-18 - Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD *2016-09-23 - Castle Theatre - Bloomington, IL *2017-12-02 - Mr. Small's - Millvale, PA *2017-12-04 - Harvester Performance Center - Rocky Mount, VA *2017-12-05 - The National - Richmond, VA *2017-12-06 - Carolina Theatre - Durham, NC *2018-04-15 - L'Astral - Montreal, Quebec *2018-04-17 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME *2019-05-16 - Sound Opinions - Thalia Hall - Chicago, IL *2019-07-19 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA *2019-07-23 - The Jefferson - Charlottesville, VA *2019-07-24 - Merge 30 - Carolina Theatre - Durham, NC *2019-08-09 - College Street Music Hall - New Haven, CT *2019-08-16 - Music in the Mill - Hickory, NC Videos of this Song *2009-11-06 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI *2009-11-07 - Cedar Cultural Centre - Minneapolis, MN *2009-11-10 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA Category:We Shall All Be Healed songs Category:Letter from Belgium songs Category:Video